NFL Continues to Fail Giving Fair Shot to Minorities

by Eric Fulton
The National Football League (NFL) is easily the most popular sport in the United States. However, whether you realize it or not, the NFL does have an image problem when it comes to who is in charge of its teams. Of the nearly 1,700 players, the majority of players are African-American, but only four of the game’s 32 teams have minority head coaches and only two teams in the league have minority general managers. The Miami Dolphins are the league’s only team with a minority in both positions with Brian Flores as head coach and Chris Grier as GM. This is a major failure on the part of the NFL and they know it and are trying to make changes to fix the issue – the only problem is their recent proposal basically makes a joke of the issue.  

The league’s latest idea of rewarding teams who hire minorities by moving up in the NFL Draft just seems to be a terrible idea, so terrible the league has already moved to put this possibility behind them since the start of this writing.

NFL.com first reported that if a minority head coach is hired, a team would move up six spots in the third round before the minority head coach’s second season. If a team hires a person of color, they would move up 10 spots in the third round of the draft. If a team hires both a minority head coach and general manager in the same year, a team would move up 16 spots (or half a round). There would also be additional incentives for teams if the head coach and general manager are not fired within their first two seasons.

There are some who say the NFL still doesn’t get it when it comes to hiring the best people available. I am one of them. What is the motivation for hiring a person of color just to move up in the middle of the draft? This resolution just might be one of the worst ideas any professional league has ever had. This plan is essentially a slap in the face to minority coaches and GMs. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts did not receive any incentives when they both added Hall of Famer Tony Dungy as head coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers did not receive any incentives when they hired Mike Tomlin.  Both Dungy and Tomlin made their teams better and leading the Colts and Steelers to Super Bowl victories.  I don’t think they needed extra motivation to lead their teams to championships.

The NFL created the Art Rooney Rule in 2003 for teams to at least interview minority candidates in head coaching and senior operation jobs. Although some minorities did receive head coaching and operational opportunities, most of them were fired within three seasons. Whenever a new coach or front office personnel is hired, it usually takes about three years to have a system fully developed to which teams can be in contention to win a championship. Ownerships and fans don’t have enough patience to see their teams rebuild and win the Super Bowl and if things really fall off the wagon, coaches and personnel are fired in two years. That is not a whole lot of time for a team to develop into a contender.

Between the Art Rooney Rule and the new proposed benefits, the NFL has done a terrible job not giving minorities the chance to succeed in the most crucial parts of an organization. While some coaches like Dungy, Tomlin and Marvin Lewis (who spent 16 years as Cincinnati Bengals head coach) have stayed long term with their teams, others weren’t as lucky (such as Todd Bowels and Hue Jackson). General Managers like Rick Smith, formerly of the Houston Texans, built a contender, but couldn’t get over the hump in the playoffs. Therefore, Smith was let go, but has not received another offer since his dismissal. I get it is about the owners finding the right person to represent their teams, but they shouldn’t be awarded a higher spot in draft just for hiring a minority. It’s an insult to those wanting the chance. It is time for the NFL to make sense and do a better job giving minorities a fair shot to prove themselves and quit trying to use benefits.